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Lawrence

The name is derived from the Latin cognomen Laurentius meaning “from Laurentum.” It was popularized by an early Roman deacon, martyr and saint who was roasted alive when he refused to turn over church property to the Roman authorities. According to legend, he is the patron saint of comedians because when he was being roasted he told his torturers “turn me over, I am done on this side.”

It was borne by several other saints.

Lawrence has been a popular given name since Medieval times and it consistently appeared in the U.S. top 100 from 1880-1971. By 1972 it mysteriously and suddenly fell completely out of popularity and it has been so since. It is currently only the 457th most popular male name, (2010).

Other forms include:

Nadja/Nadjeh (Arabic: used among Arab Christians)

Toufiq لورنس (Arabic:used among Arab Christians)

Loren(Aragonese)

Lorient (Aragonese)

Lari (Basque)

Lawrencij Лаўрэнцій (Belarusian)

Laorañs (Breton)

Llorenç (Catalan)

Larenzu (Corsican)

Lovrenco (Croatian)

Lovre (Croatian. Currently the 58th most popular name in Croatia, 2010)

Lovro (Croatian)

Vavřinec (Czech/Slovak: literally from the Czech word for laurel, it has been used as the proper cognate for Lawrence since Christianity was introduced to the area)

Laurits/Lauritz (Danish/Estonian/Icelandic/Norwegian)

Lasse (Dutch/Norwegian/Swedish. LAHS-se)

Laurens (Dutch)

Loris (Dutch/French/German/Italian. Currently the 100th most popular male name in France, 2009)

Rens (Dutch. Currently the 79th most popular male name in the Netherlands)

Larkin (English: a Medieval diminutive form of Lawrence)

Lauri (Estonian/Finnish)

Lars (Finnish/Norwegian/Swedish. Currently the 14th most popular male name in the Netherlands, the 23rd most popular in Belgium and the 57th most popular in Norway)

Lassi (Finnish)

Laurent (French)

Laurentin (French)

Lourens (Frisian)

Labhrás (Gaelic)

Loenso (Genovese)

Laurenzius (German: archaic)

Lenz (German)

Lorenz (German)

Lavrentios Λαυρεντιος (Greek)

Lőrinc (Hungarian)

Lárus (Icelandic)

Lorenzo (Italian/Spanish. Currently the 5th most popular male name in Italy and 52nd most popular in France (2009). It is also the 187th most popular in the Netherlands and the 322nd most popular in the United States, 2010)

Laurentius (Latin)

Lau (Limburgish)

Lor (Limburgish)

Laurynas (Lithuanian)

Lawrenz (Maltese)

Laurys (Manx)

Louothains (Norman)

Lavrans (Norwegian)

Laurenç (Occitanian)

Lleurant (Occitanian)

Laurencjusz (Polish)

Laurenty (Polish)

Wawrzyniec (Polish: literally from the Polish word for laurel, it has been used as the proper cognate for Lawrence since Christianity was introduced to the area)